Hints and tips:
...GILD’s c$15bn cost base vs $11bn core op.income, of which c$5bn lies in R&D/SG&A), but also require very significant job cuts at a time of global economic hardship....
...Savings are expected to be greater than £100m vs. previous guidance of c£100m....
...a chat feature with store colleagues....
...Store closures in all major geographies will undoubtedly have an impact on the business, but it will be temporary....
...If Debt/GDP is about 1 now (UK-US levels) you can run a primary deficit of (g-r) — where g is growth rate and r is real cost of borrowing — and keep Debt/GDP constant....
...VinMart stores, for example, might make use of “smart cameras” to track how much time customers stay in a given section of the store....
...In the US this shift led to the emergence of huge discount retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco, while in Japan it was reflected by the explosive growth in so-called 100-yen shops....
...lobbying India’s Cabinet approved a retired judge to probe claims that Wal-Mart Stores Inc....
...With Wal-Mart and Starbucks both announcing plans in the past week to make it easier for customers to pay using smartphones, the mobile payments market is finally moving into the mainstream....
...number of Wal-Mart stores around the country....
...If the proposed deal doesn’t come off, it could be bought by Wal-Mart. Combined, their Brazilian operations would be bigger than Pão de Açúcar....
...Li & Fung sources everything from T-shirts and anoraks to furniture and beauty products for western retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores and Toys R’ Us....
...The same is true of plans to produce a live-action version of J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit....
...Elsewhere, joining Kraft’s clout with grocers, such as Wal-Mart, to Cadbury’s mastery of “instant consumption” outlets – convenience stores and newsagents – should pump up the top line....
...This diversification has made Amazon the most visited online retail site in the US, after Wal-Mart and Target.com....
...Wal-Mart tries to stick to its own system and does not allow a local management style,” he says....
...In corporate news, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said it would create more than 22,000 jobs this year in new or expanded US stores. Wal-Mart shares were flat at $50.87....
...The UFCW also points to its effort to represent a group of 10 Wal-Mart meat workers in Texas who voted to unionise in 2000. Wal-Mart subsequently closed its store meat-cutting counters....
...The company, which also operates Ralphs and Food 4 Less stores, has come under pressure to slash its prices in the recession to compete with low-price competitors such as Wal-Mart....
...Even Wal-Mart, which has outperformed its rivals since the summer, reported a lower-than-expected 1.7 per cent increase in same-store sales at its US stores....
...Wal-Mart’s profit warning came after disappointing December sales, one of several downbeat retail figures disclosed on Thursday....
...Consumer staples – which had led the market lower in the previous session, when the latest batch of glum corporate earnings took in erstwhile defensive food companies – took comfort from Wal-Mart’s sales...
...In Long Island, a Wal-Mart worker was trampled to death as the store opened. Two people were shot dead at a California Toys R Us, but details were unclear....
...In the US, meanwhile, retailers including Wal-Mart, Neiman Marcus and Toys R Us stole a march on last month’s “Black Friday” discount day following Thanksgiving by promoting price cuts beforehand....
...In spite of incursions by Amazon, Wal-Mart, MySpace and others, Apple remains music companies’ biggest partner in the digital business on which they are relying for growth....
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